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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2002.50.98
Title
Pitcher with Foliate Carving
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
12th century
Places
Creation Place: Middle East, Iran
Period
Seljuk-Atabeg period
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/148155

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Fritware with carved decoration under turquoise (copper) transparent alkali glaze
Technique
Carved
Dimensions
11.6 x 20.4 cm (4 9/16 x 8 1/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Mansour Gallery, London, 1973], sold; to Stanford and Norma Jean Calderwood, Belmont, MA (1973-2002), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2002.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art
Accession Year
2002
Object Number
2002.50.98
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
The decoration on the body of this pitcher is incised and consists of highly stylized leaf forms. Squat in shape, the pitcher has a lobed rim and three handles topped with flower heads in relief. Although its decoration is common on other monochrome incised pitchers, its wide mouth and handles are a rarity; the knobs above the handles indicate that it follows a metal prototype. The turquoise glaze that covers both interior and exterior of the body terminates thickly above the foot. Despite several repairs, particularly around the base, the vessel retains its original form.

Published Catalogue Text: In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art , written 2013
23

Pitcher with foliate carving
Iran, Seljuk-Atabeg
period, 12th century
Fritware with carved decoration under turquoise (copper) transparent alkali glaze
11.6 × 20.4 cm (4 9/16 × 8 1/16 in.)
2002.50.98

The decoration on the body of this pitcher is incised, rather than molded (see cats. 21 and 22), and consists of highly stylized leaf forms. Squat in shape, the pitcher has a lobed rim and three handles topped with flower heads in relief. Although its decoration is common on other monochrome incised pitchers, its wide mouth and handles are a rarity; the knobs above the handles indicate that it follows a metal prototype. The turquoise glaze that covers both interior and exterior of the body terminates thickly above the foot. Despite several repairs, particularly around the base, the vessel retains its original form.

Ayşin Yoltar-Yıldırım

Publication History

  • Mary McWilliams, ed., In Harmony: The Norma Jean Calderwood Collection of Islamic Art, exh. cat., Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2013), p. 185, cat. 23, ill.

Exhibition History

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu